Forged By The Apocalypse - A LitRPG With Draconic Potential

Returning to the battlefield where we had first met the boss scorepion wasn’t difficult. Getting Naea to move on instead of destroying every dune in sight was the real struggle at the moment. It wasn’t like she was wasting time, so I was patient, but it was wearing thin. “You’re not even getting experience any more,” I sighed, mostly to myself. Louder, I shouted for Naea to loot the corpses and she said she would.

We’d received nothing valuable from looting the scorepions, but as Naea could do it, she might as well. The looting power was mine and so, the loot itself ended up in my inventory rather than her’s. Neither of us needed the coins it was giving, but it was the principle. I didn’t want to leave any money on the table. An image of myself over a hoard of gold was shoved away. Great, now I’m even making fun of myself.

The sun was starting to dip by the time we reached the six spires again. The giant scorepion had returned to its upside down position, but the damage of the previous battle was clear. Muddy chunks of sand could be seen in places where the blood of the scorepions I killed with my return shot had lain. The bodies were gone, which was strange.

“I thought dungeon fairies cleaned up the mess?” I asked Naea quietly. We were keeping our distance, knowing the hive was probably on edge. Naea had no answer, which troubled both of us. Unknowns were dangerous. I did one final check of my character page.

Name - Grant Kaeron Race - Human (Grade 0) Level - 25

Title - Dragon Slayer

Fortitude - 20 Speed - 14 Mental - 51 Will - 30

Free attribute points: 8

The percentage based boosts to my attributes weren’t shown on the screen for some reason I hadn’t worked out yet. My effective stats were a fair bit higher, with everything at least 10% more than shown. My Mental attribute was closer to 70 in effect, but only showed 51 on the page.

In my flight from the first battle with the scorepion boss, I had randomly dropped points wherever I could until the fugue of the situation caused me to become like a zombie. With eight points remaining from my six level ups, I decided to hold onto the free points for now. My short battle with Monet hadn’t been enough to get a feel for my new level of strength and speed.

I had no doubts this fight would push me much, much further.

With no other preparations to make, we approached the boss. However, this time, we had a plan. “I still can’t believe it works like this,” I said, holding the Yo Staff horizontally above me. Naea held the top, cackling like a witch as we rose higher and higher. The abilities of the Chibizashi had given me an idea I hadn’t considered before.

If I could change the weight, could I make it weigh less? Could I make the Yo Staff weigh less than air? The answer was yes, for an expensive continual mana cost. I could pay, but we needed to hurry. Knowing this, Naea didn’t mess around. We reached our destination, directly in the middle of all six legs. “Bombs away,” Naea cried with glee as she released me.

From forty feet in the air, I dropped like a comet. The weight of the Yo Staff switched, becoming heavier than it had any right to be. I carefully moved the mass to the front of the staff so I wouldn’t rip my arms off as I landed. Even having some idea of the result couldn’t prepare me for the efficacy of our sneak attack, however.

The scorepion boss didn’t know what hit it.

Instantly, the humongous arachnid buckled, its legs curling inwards. A shower of sand and scorepions rained down but most of the surprised insects were dissected before they hit the ground. A blue flash danced through the debris like the pixie of death. Are pixies real? Do they get along with fairies? Questions for later, as the battle wasn’t nearly finished.

While there were no health or mana bars in the real world, I must have done some real damage to the insides of the giant scorepion because it was reeling from the blow. It righted itself quickly, but it was clearly hurt and moving slower than last time.

Good, I thought without remorse.I could admit killing the amphibian humanoids made me a little conflicted, but this monstrosity deserved no remorse. While it seemed that dungeon monsters didn’t roam the outside world, based on Naea’s achievement, if I didn’t deal with this thing then someone else would have to.

Someone else might steal my kill.

Still, for all my bluster, how was I meant to attack this thing? I had pictured myself a mage, but without any spells or ranged attacks, I was more of a monk. “Just me and you,” I said to the staff in my hand before starting my full sprint. While running, some of the less-stunned scorepions took some pot shots.

I flipped and altered my speed so I could fire a few of the errant footballs right at the scorepion boss. The balls were solid, and with my strength now more than double the strength of yesterday, they were burying into the carapace and cracking it in points. The creature’s nameplate was huge over its head, the large 40 not nearly as daunting just a day apart. “Poor guy probably has no clue what’s going on. Ah well.”

Even I was surprised with the night and day difference, though it all made sense. Most of this creature’s benefit had been the surprise in which it first attacked me and the range I had been at. With Naea more than capable of handling the clunky, smaller scorepions, I was able to focus on the big one. An earth-rumbling screech shook the battlefield as the Scorepion Manager wailed in rage.

I shouted back, my voice amplified by the magic within. At some point, the use of mana to infuse my body with strength had become instinctual, requiring almost no care at all. A facet of both experience and a higher Mental attribute, no doubt, all of my upgrades were working in tandem to make me an absolute monster. I tried to imagine how the colossal scorepion saw me.

I smirked. Like a tiny dragon, I decided. The small scorepions had given up attacking me, trying desperately to hit the fast moving Naea. They had no chance there either, but how could they ignore her? With almost every beat of her incessant wings, she found a new enemy to end. She made the Chibizashi slightly larger as she swung, the attacks both deceptive and lethal. Having never expected to be able to fight the other denizens of the dungeon, she was having lots of fun.

I didn’t judge. Despite the obvious life-threatening danger all around, I agreed. This was fun. It was everything I dreamed of as a child, with a few added pieces of uncomfortable reality. The pain I had suffered was real, and it would leave lasting marks on me. At the same time, it was hard not to equate that suffering with the joy I could now feel in every movement.

I flew across the battlefield, my heart light. This was where I wanted to be. Hopefully in the future I’d be launching a few magical attacks, but if my Mental attribute only increased the enhancing effect I currently received from my mana, I’d still be happy. The light of the sun disappeared and I looked up, seeing a huge pincer coming to crush me. Fear was nowhere to be found as I laughed in the face of danger.

“Bring it on!” As the claw descended, I sent as much mana as my muscles could handle into my arms and legs. Before the attack from above landed, I leapt from the ground. A missile, I barely changed the weight of the staff, using only my own momentum and strength to send the blow flying. I’m fighting a goddamn kaiju, I shook my head, amazed at my own strength, and I’m winning.

The assault on the Scorepion Manager was mostly done out of pride. I had half-expected to run away again, but things had gone well. I landed just as the scorepion did, its massive frame too large to dexterously catch itself. I bounced as its weight caused the battlefield to buckle once more.

For Naea, it was yet another chance to sweep through the scorepions. She was able to defeat more than one a second, but there were simply hundreds. I sent a surge of mana through our connection, and saw her energy return. “Focus on yerself!” I heard her shout, so I turned back to the big one.

“Don’t get cocky, kid,” I reminded myself. Focusing, I let the seriousness of the situation remove extraneous thoughts. Taking this fight anything but deathly serious was a mistake. “So, how do I kill you?”

I had been searching for an obvious weak spot, some kind of big red target to aim for, but there wasn’t one. I cursed the System for making things difficult and started cutting through the sand. My target was whichever leg I could reach first, but obviously the boss had other ideas. Until now, its tail had been irrelevant. Clearly, it wanted to change that. The huge beast lowered itself to the ground, confusing me for a second.

Then, the thing disappeared and I was doubly confused. Once I felt the ground tremble, I looked to my left and saw that the Scorepion Manager had leapt away. All I could do was watch as it aimed the deadly cannon right towards me. Due to how it positioned itself, Naea and the rest of the battle was behind me.

“Did you do that on purpose?” I asked aloud. Whether it was planning or luck on the creature’s part, I could no longer just dodge. If Naea ran, I would be between the army and the general. If I ran, Naea would get hit by the shed-sized projectile. “You sure you want to do this again?”

I saw the vision. The scorepion boss was confident in its offensive capabilities, enough to base it on one shot. Maybe it would work, or perhaps my achievements and growth since the first shot would have tipped the scales. The scorepion was closer than last time, another edge to the stand-off. I felt the rubber band feeling from before, magnified by a million.

“Come on,” I muttered to myself, moving my grip on the Yo Staff nervously. It was good I had forced myself to calm down, because the tension had immediately ratcheted up. The sun hadn’t caused me to perspire up to now, yet I felt myself start to drip with sweat. “Come on… come on! COME ON!”

My final shout surprised even me, and the fucker took advantage. I was back footed as I jumped forward, and I pulled out, turning the move into a hop. I spun forward, planted the Yo Staff in the ground and vaulted myself forward. A technique only available to me thanks to Weapon Mastery, the move was perfect. I shot forward, spinning like a top.

Staff connected with projectile. Stick with ball. Force against force, the immense weight of the fast moving football against the strength I could bring to the fore.

It stood no chance. Poison drenched me, but I was prepared and put an attribute point into Speed. The poison sloughed off, and I nodded in satisfaction. I needed a chance to prove to myself it wasn’t just Fortitude which would heal me. I landed calmly and looked at the scene of destruction I had wrought.

Lying in a tangled heap, like a set of cranes had fallen on top of each other, the scorepion twitched a few times before it twitched no more. I closed my eyes and let the bursts of pressure wash over me, multiple level ups coming at once. The creature was not just 15 levels higher than me, it was a dungeon boss. The levels were just the tip of the iceberg.

Before I could stop, I turned to help Naea finish the other, smaller scorepions. Instead of finding her needing assistance, I saw a quiet arena, with a singular, tiny victor. She hovered over to me, panting, and raised a tiny hand. I laughed and returned the gesture. Naea was strong enough that she could still give a satisfying high five, even with her small hand. “Can’t believe that worked.”

“Same, to be honest.” Silence followed my words for a short time before the pair of us were cracking up. The tension breaking, we both fell about with laughter at each other. Relief and absurdity together were a potent mixture, so it was a while before we calmed down. Lying in the sand, I clutched a fist and punched it into the air with a whoop.

Maybe I wouldn’t die in this dungeon after all.